If somebody was a wrestling fan this time last year, but lost interest and hadn't watched all year, what do you think would be the biggest surprise/change for this person coming back to WWE after a year away?
I'd go with the unmasking of Kane. Sure, it wasn't really handled all that well, but for somebody to watch again after a year and see this ugly bald guy wrestling, and then be told that it's Kane? I think that'd be the biggest shock for me.
The fact that Goldberg is now in the WWE could be another surprise, but I think we all sort of had the feeling that he'd end up there eventually.
Of course, the biggest shock would be the death of one of the greatest performers ever to set foot inside the squared circle. How we've been able to survive close to a year since the passing of Al Wilson still amazes me. As for other stuff: You were able to avoid Hogan and Piper doing their crippled routine through the spring, but unfortunately Sable stuck around. Austin came, went and will come again, as will Foley.
If only Paul Jones had brought in General Skandar Akbar as a technical military advisor, Paul Jones' Army could have thwarted the McMahon infidels and prevented the collapse of wrestling civilization.
I think is I had been out the last year the biggest shocks would be:
1. I agree with Ta2grrl - Brock Lesnar - a great yound talent a year ago, and now the guy who is the star of one of the shows.
2. The (mostly) absence of the greatest stars in wrestling of the past couple decades ie: Rock, Austin, Hogan, Savage, Foley - the only ones still around are HBK and Flair - of course, we know most of them will cycle back in eventually. And 'Taker's out there turning back into the old 'Taker for Rumble or 'Mania.
3. I am suprised at Eric Bischoff being on Raw. Now I can't recall exactly when he debuted, but who thought it was long-term? (Ok, gotta check!) alright, so it happened in 02 - but I expected him to be long-gone by now
1. WWE signing Goldberg despite the latter publicly denouncing the product; and
2. Triple H being the WWE Champion at the end of the year... okay so it isn't much of a surprise, but in this day and age of shorter title reigns you'd think someone else would have the belt... right?
This is a good topic. If you had not viewed since December 02, I think you'd be most surprised by:
1. Kane unmasked 2. The emergence of John Cena 3. The "he's back from his temper tantrum, but he's not wrestling anymore, but he's still a star of the show, but we banish him every now and then" status of Steve Austin
The one thing that surprised me the most was Roddy Piper ending up in WWE for a few months. I had him on a short list of people I didn't think would ever be back.
I'd say the return of Sable was the biggest out-of-left-field shock of the year, although perhaps not in a good way. I remember we spent the days between the taping and the airing of Smackdown debating if the spoilers were even legit, it was such an unbelievable development.
"Be it Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Harvest or December 25th - peace on earth to everyone, and abundance to everyone you're with." ---Blues Traveler, "Christmas"
I agree with you last two, reading that SD spoiler I was like "No way this is real". There wasn't' a grain of rumor of her coming back that I ever heard of then she shows up... I don't know how much change she made, she's definitely does not have the popularity of 98, heck she got beaten out early rounds by Heat regular Jackie Gayda at the BOTY 03 contest. Don't think she can be viewed as a top women in wrestling. Seeing Sable it kinda shows how the women evolved in the last 5 years
Other surprises I had
Negative: Jeff Hardy- I remember back this time last year. Year in review for Raw of '02. There was big hype of Jeff vs. Undertaker ladder match for the World Title. With JR screaming go get it kid, and the respect thing afterwards with Taker and Jeff... Then 4 months later Jeff is released from the WWE. His popularity in the IWC was dropping but still had alot of popularity in the arena and was still big time seller of merchandise after he was let go by the WWE.
Positive: SD announce team- In 2002 when I heard they are thinking of doing split PPVs and I didn't know if Cole and Tazz are ready to do 3 hours live... But now seeing a couple of SD PPV's, their not the best PBP duo ever but they certainly don't look like a B-team to Ross and Lawler.
Surreal: HHH & Stephanie marriage- For a lack of a better word I find this freaky as hell. I know they were dating and all but HHH officially becoming Hunter Hearst McMahon is pretty damn surreal.
I also got to add Coach heel turn, this didn't change the scope of wrestling and gave us the pathetic announcer feud. But when Coach hit Shane McMahon during Shane/Bischoff. It was one of those times that my brain couldn't register what my eyes were seeing. I saw Coach attack Shane. But that doesn't make any sense, so I must have registered it wrong but then YES that is coach! What THE?!
Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ. - Bart Simpson
Originally posted by OlFuzzyBastardI'd say the return of Sable was the biggest out-of-left-field shock of the year, although perhaps not in a good way. I remember we spent the days between the taping and the airing of Smackdown debating if the spoilers were even legit, it was such an unbelievable development.
Agreed; the return of Sable was the surreal moment of 2003, at the very least equaling the shock value of Eric Bischoff's arrival on RAW in 2002. The return of Sable speaks volumes to the unpredictability of the Sports Entertainment industry. Of course, the fact that since her return she has been doing the very things on-screen that she had in the past refused to do (leading to her departure from the then WWF and subsequent lawsuit against the company) in my mind speaks even greater volumes about human nature in general and the personalities of Vince McMahon and Rena Mero in particular.
There haven't been any bigger change this year than the Kane unmasking..They hinted at it for years and years and nobody thought they would or COULD ever do it. Yet they did and imo Kane gained a lot from it.
Another change is the fact that (despite not being pushed all that well all the time) WWE has a solid micard again. Hardy, Cena, WGTT, Guerreros, Orton, RVD, Christian to name a few have had solid feuds, solid matches and made a lot of stuff worth the while. Jericho & Michaels (two main eventers who didnt always main event)too had great years.
And finally. The women's division was accepted as a real division at last. You might not always like it, but at one point there were at least 4 women pushed at the same time! And they had matches equal or better to the men. So no longer could we say 'it was alright..for a girl'.
I noticed most of you focused with your answers on surprises/shocks instead of real changes. How about Kurt Angle being told his career is over? How about Kurt Angle making it through his WM match? How about Kurt Angle being back two months later? How about Brock Lesnar seemingly killing himself at WM, then pretty much jumping up and continueing?
Compared to that some lame little feud between Lesnar and Holly is peanuts.
I'm still reeling from Bischoff in WWE. I mean the guy really almost but Vince out of business and gave away results and raided his talent. I mean come on!
I'm surprised that nobody had mentioned Linda McMahon being tombstoned. Sure, it's part of Kane's unmasking, but I'd venture to say that particular incident (disregarding the bad positioning) was much more surprising than the actual unmasking.
Originally posted by dMpAnd they had matches equal or better to the men.
Well...
Let's see. How about the fact that they have perhaps the most talented roster they've ever had - even without a lot of injured/retired/movie star guys - yet they don't have a single drawing card. That's pretty shocking, if you really think about it.
Originally posted by hhhgamewmx7I'm still reeling from Bischoff in WWE. I mean the guy really almost but Vince out of business and gave away results and raided his talent. I mean come on!
Even stranger - from a strictly storyline/kayfabe perspective, RAW and Smackdown are currently being run by former WCW President Eric Bischoff and former ECW owner Paul Heyman. That just blows my mind when I really stop and think about it.
"Be it Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Harvest or December 25th - peace on earth to everyone, and abundance to everyone you're with." ---Blues Traveler, "Christmas"
Originally posted by redsoxnationOf course, the biggest shock would be the death of one of the greatest performers ever to set foot inside the squared circle. How we've been able to survive close to a year since the passing of Al Wilson still amazes me.
Dude, I've been gone over a year now, and you've still got it.
PMMJ
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